PLAYLIST: Pop Songs That Deal With the Enviornment/Sustainability

[Ryan Goble]

Here's a cool playlist of enviornmental tunes you might use to teach about the enviornment & sustainability issues from Sierra Magazine. PS - I love the Peter Gabriel track from Wall-E

Sing for Tomorrow
"All things move in music and write it," said Sierra Club founder John Muir. Legendary songwriter Oscar Hammerstein echoed that observation: "All the sounds of the earth are like music." No surprise, then, that so many musicians are concerned about the planet--a soothing refrain for anyone who loves music and the outdoors with equal fervor.

An ecoTunes Playlist That Won't Make You Cringe
Gathering from all corners of the musical map--bluegrass ballads, black-metal dirges, pop sarcasm, and classic folk anthems--we herein suggest a set of songs in favor of not trashing the planet, in the order we'd play them on our iPod.

Marvin Gaye, "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" (1971)
The luscious, sad, soulful linchpin to any self-respecting green jukebox.

Johnny Cash, "Don't Go Near the Water" (Boom Chicka Boom version; 1989)
Sparsely backed, employing that sonorous voice of authority, the Man in Black breaks the bad news to children about their environmental inheritance in classic Cash fashion.

Metallica, "Blackened" (1988)
The kings of metal poignantly--if noisily and thrashily--lament Mother Earth's demise.

I See Hawks in L.A., "In the Garden" (2008)
Country rockers from the city of sprawl deliver pretty, rollicking notes about bees, weather, logging, and a paradise "bothered" rather than lost.

The Postal Service, "We Will Become Silhouettes" (2003)
A dulcet, dancey synth-pop indictment of the air we breathe.

Mos Def, "New World Water" (1999)
The rapper-actor drops F-bombs on rising oceans, poisoned water, and imminent shortages.

Joni Mitchell, "Big Yellow Taxi" (1970)
Another classic, denouncing pesticides, overdevelopment, and painful breakups.

Ted Nugent, "Great White Buffalo" (1978)
Sweet guitar licks and the Nuge's hunter-conservationist take on species extinction.

Wolves in the Throne Room, "www.amazon.com/Vastness-And-Sorrow/dp/B000WECVH4+%22Wolves+in+the+t...;" target="_blank">Vastness and Sorrow" (2007)
Gorgeous black-metal onslaught by Earth First!-leaning farmsteaders. Unintelligible lyrics paint a scorched, wasted earth.

The Roots, "Rising Down" (2007)
A hip-hop general survey of worldwide malaise hits global warming and not-so-natural disasters.

Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros, "Johnny Appleseed" (2001)
Rousing (and sage) advice about resource management from a punk-rock icon.

Jean Ritchie, "Black Waters" (1971)
The Appalachian folksinger calls out the coal companies in this (unfortunately) timeless bittersweet tune.

Talking Heads, "(Nothing But) Flowers" (1988)
Playfully sarcastic, joyously upbeat, David Byrne's visions of a carless, fast-food-free future in which plant life overtakes factories and freeways.

Peter Gabriel, "Down to Earth" (2008)
Just hearing this slick piece of pop from the WALL-E soundtrack triggers enviro-endorphin sunbursts in the brain.

--Lynn Rapoport

Full article from the Sierra Magazine here.

[Lisa Kensler]

Ryan!

This is fabulous! Love the music links!

I am currently working on a paper for the next University Council for Educational Administration (not as hip a group as this one!) on increasing sustainability awareness among school leaders. There are growing resources for teachers and curriculum - super important, but, very few resources for school leaders... School leaders make management decisions every day that could be more sustainable, but they often don't have the time to ferret out the information. A few states are developing state resources and we are seeking to do the same in AL.

[Ryan Goble]

Lisa, that is, as the kiddies would say "off the hook." Since I've accidently become Mr. Interdisciplinary over the last 5 years I actually have tons of pop resources that can help and your your teachers. There is so much exciting work being done that links sustainability to pop culture. the other exciting thing about this area is that it applies to so many disciplines.

I'm glad your in this fledgling group as I do have a crazy large stack of articles, films etc I'm hoping to post as resources.

Linking sustainability ed to 21st Century Learning Standards and Social Emotional Standards would also be interesting, eh?

You might also join our Science Educators group. It is another MC POP hot spot..

Anyway.....